YA – Looking For a Good Book

August 1, 2023

THE DAUGHTERS OF IZDIHAR – Hadeer Elsbai

Nehal is a waterweaver. She can manipulate water in just about any manner she sees fit. But Nehal has had no training on how to (safely) use her ability. Her biggest desire is to attend the new Weaving Academy which trains those with weaving abilities and then to use those talents by joining the newly Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, YA

May 16, 2023

THE TOWER TREASURE – Franklin W. Dixon

It’s a little hard to believe, but at one time I was a reluctant reader. In my younger years I really didn’t care to read and while my parents brought me a barrage of books from the local library, nothing seemed interesting to me. This is likely why I have never read a Hardy Boys Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, MYSTERY, Uncategorized, YA

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Middle Grade, Mystery, Reviews, YA

June 2, 2022

TICKER – Lisa Mantchen

Penny Farthing was nearly dead when surgeon Calvin Warwick replaced her heart with a mechanical ‘Ticker’. With the brass heart, Penny became the first of the Augmented. But Calvin is arrested and put on trial for mass murder when it is learned that many people died as he’s worked on them, trying to build an Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA

3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, YA

January 31, 2022

DOWN COMES THE NIGHT – Allison Saft

Wren Southerland is probably the best healer in the Queen’s Guard but she’s been a bit reckless with her magic so she’s constantly in trouble with her superiors. When she receives a letter from a lord asking for her help to cure a servant, she only sees the opportunity to redeem herself and improve her Continue reading

Uncategorized, YA

3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, YA

July 7, 2021

AWAKENING – Julie C. Gilbert

There are certain YA books that I recognize I am probably not going to enjoy. I would base this partly on themes, publisher’s descriptions of the book, and even, yes, book covers. Don’t judge a book by the cover? Well, yes, to some extent you can and should. Why? Well, that’s probably worth a blog Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA

2 Stars, SF/Fantasy, YA

July 5, 2021

THE LOST WONDERLAND DIARIES – J. Scott Savage

Celia and Tyrus are both library nerds – Tyrus because he loves to read and Celia because her mom is the new librarian in town. The two strike up a fast and sure friendship and Celia reveals to him her personal issue … she’s dyslexic. Most people don’t understand what that means and she’s usually Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, Uncategorized, YA

4 stars, Middle Grade, YA

June 30, 2021

I AM DRUMS – Mike Grosso

This is a really tremendous book for school-aged readers! Samantha (Sam) really wants to be a drummer. She takes drumming seriously and even though some of the other drummers (all boys) are better than her right now, she’s hoping that with some practice and determination, she will make the jazz band. All she needs is Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, Uncategorized, YA

5 Stars, Middle Grade, YA

June 3, 2021

AVEREE – graphic novel

Graphic Novel Week Imagine a world where a social media platform has such power as to determine who should like whom, who has enough social rank to get the better jobs and even determine someone’s credit score simply based on their social rank. In the graphic novel, Averee, it’s not just students who are on their Continue reading

GRAPHIC NOVEL, Uncategorized, YA

4 stars, Graphic Novels, YA

May 28, 2021

THE WILL AND THE WILDS – Charlie N. Holmberg

Charlie N. Holmberg’s The Will and the Wilds is a fantasy that feels deeply rooted in mythology and the tradition of storytelling. Enna lives with her father at the edge of the wildwood – a border to the land of monsters. She was raised to exercise great caution when dealing with Mystings – a part demon, part Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA

4 stars, SF/Fantasy, YA

May 3, 2021

CURTSIES & CONSPIRACIES – Gail Carriger

Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality is not your ordinary Finishing School. It is also a secret training ground to turn qualified young ladies into spies. Second year student Sophronia uses the skills she learns to listen in on teachers and sneak into places where she doesn’t belong. But then what 15 Continue reading

YA

3 Stars, Action/Adventure, YA

April 23, 2021

THIEF’S MAGIC – Trudi Canavan

I once thought that I enjoyed reading epic fantasies – you know books with characters (like sorcerer, priests, and thieves) and storylines that could be pulled from a game of Dungeons and Dragons. But the more I read the more I find them seeming all too much the same, as if they were, well, characters Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA

3 Stars, SF/Fantasy, YA

April 14, 2021

ROMULUS BUCKLE & THE ENGINES OF WAR – Richard Ellis Preston, Jr.

Swashbuckling steampunk. That’s Romulus Buckle. Romulus Buckle is the captain of a zeppelin which is soaring over the frozen wasteland known as Southern California, where warring clans battle one another for precious supplies. Buckle has worked hard to bring about an alliance between the clans in order put an end to the fighter. But that Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA

4 stars, science fiction, YA